Twelve-year-old Carmen has a secret: she can talk to her cat Grim. But the powerful Brotherhood has banned pets, and the penalty is death.
Ward is the most wanted boy in the world. The only thing standing between him and the hangman's noose is maste...
The next morning Nick sent for them. They found him in his office. If he had been up all night it didn't show: his eyes were burning, but his body was relaxed like that of a snake. The Oliphant lay on his desk.
Carmen's eyes narrowed, but Nick held up his hand before she could speak. "I know about your parents," he said. "I'm guessing Brother Tamerlane made you an offer? He will take this," he indicated the Oliphant, "then he will execute your parents. Perhaps you too."
"Can't you help them?" Carmen said. "My pere told me you used to be friends."
"Once." He gazed at Grim for a moment, lost in thought.
"Would you just let him die?" Carmen said, her voice hitching on that last word.
"It was long ago," he said. "Things come between friends."
"I think you're afraid."
"Me?" Nick smiled bemusedly.
"Not of being caught," Carmen said. "I think you're afraid of my pere."
Nick looked away. When he spoke it was to the map on the wall. "I've seen dozens hang. Should I have saved them all?" He turned back to Carmen. "And if I did, wouldn't the Brothers just come up with some new and crueller punishment? Besides, your pere would rather hang than be rescued by me."
"I don't believe that," Carmen said.
"Then you don't know him well as you think you do. But it doesn't matter. We have something right here that can save them." He indicated the Oliphant.
"You don't know that," Ward said. "We don't even know what to play on it."
"But I think you have an idea where to find the instructions," Nick said, watching Carmen carefully.
"The Old City," she murmured. "Corvus has them." She looked up. "We need to go there. Now."
"What about Corvus?" Ward said.
"He was spotted on the outskirts of Xandra Wood this morning," Nick said. "This is our chance. But we must move fast. It would be foolish to underestimate him: that old man is more than he seems."
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This is where things start getting hairy. If you're going to pike, now's the time to return to Lower Sooksville, Wimperton.
